There Are ONLY Two Behaviors

A Bite-Size Read for Your Health and Your Waistline

Photo by Jake Blucker on Unsplash

EVERYTHING boils down to only 2 behaviors: doing and not doing. That’s it! No gray area; it’s one or the other. And for the queen of finding middle ground, the in-between, the gray, it’s A LOT for me to say that does not exist here.

Check in with yourself. Are you doing or not doing? It’s easy to say we want to do something… but then it may be hard to actually do it! Whether you call it a commitment, an intention, a goal, or simply something you want, we all have ideas of the outcomes we desire. Note: what we identify are the results. The next step is to break-down those goals into smaller steps, daily tasks.

For example let’s say you want a new job. The intermediate goals may be updating your resume or CV, researching available companies, and applying to relevant roles. Daily, though, we often feel like we have to talk ourselves into these steps. They often feel like extra tasks weighing on us, and we must create rewards or consequences to convince ourselves to be accountable. It can be exhausting!

Here’s the thing: we often underestimate the daily work we are already doing. We tend to ignore all the work we’re doing every day, to focus on everything we’re not doing. Assessing whether we’re ‘doing’ or ‘not doing’ can help us recognize that which does happen every day. Even a small step qualifies as doing!

Remember this: we get good at what we repeatedly do. Full stop. Now this is a little meta but, not doing is also something we can get good at…if we do it often. This can lead to us beating ourselves up and doubting our work, our skills, ourselves. Ultimately, this makes it more exhausting in the long run to not do something! Doing, while requiring time and energy in the moment, helps us feel accomplished, confident, and empowered to continue. Ask yourself: what’s the direction of the momentum I’m creating? Am I doing or not doing?

Once you’ve recognized the direction of your momentum, if you need to, you can change it! When we have a thought to do something, we have five seconds for the prefrontal cortex (the front of the brain) to activate before we start to debate it and the back of the brain takes over. Thanks, Mel Robbins and The Five Second Rule! Here’s what this might look like in real life. We have the thought to workout. You have five seconds before your brain begins to talk you out of it. “I don’t have time for a ‘full’ workout right now. I’d have to change my clothes and then shower.” “I’m actually tired.” and on…and on…What’s the fix? Countdown from five. The thought pops into your mind, count 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…and do it! If you want to workout, countdown from five and get up from your couch! It really is that simple.

Remember that Nike mantra, Just Do It! The only other option is to do nothing, stick with the status quo, and it seems to me, that’s not what you’re looking for.